1 week to go in the college football season, and (semi)realistically, there are 4 teams fighting for 1 spot to face Oklahoma. These are some of the (semi)plausible scenarios that get these teams in.Note: These are not official. Just personal guesses.Oklahoma (2.06 BCS rating) is in unless they get beat 66-0 and drop dramatically in the polls.Now, for the second spot.

LSU (8.43): A USC loss and LSU win puts them in. An LSU win coupled with Army beating Navy and Syracuse beating Notre Dame should catapult LSU over USC should USC win. A Hawaii loss to Boise State would also benefit LSU (Hawaii beat Alabama that lost to LSU, thus weakening LSU somewhat, however Hawaii lost to USC, thus Hawaii is more closely impacted with USC than LSU.)

Michigan (10.82): USC and LSU lose, Notre Dame and/or Navy wins.

Georgia (15.33): A longshot. However, a decisive Georgia win over LSU, coupled with USC losing to Oregon State, Notre Dame losing to Syracuse, Navy losing to Army, Boise State losing to Hawaii and Oklahoma losing to Kansas State (as K-State lost to Marshall, who lost to Tennessee, who lost to Georgia) could catapult Georgia into the #2 spot.

Whoever thought that Boise State/Hawaii and Army/Navy could have such impact on the National Title race?

(edited by redsoxnation on 2.12.03 1011)Why Pro Wrestling proves the INS cannot keep terrorists out of the United States: If a felon like Nathan Jones is allowed into the United States with no special skills (unless being totally inept in the ring counts, but I think there are enough totally inept people in the US to keep that skill from being unique or special), then how the hell can they justify keeping anyone else out?

As much as I would love to see Army beat Navy, I don't see it happening this year - the cadets have just been awful......and even the sun & sand are not going to be enough for the U of H Rainbows to knock off Boise State - the Broncos are tough and are going to kick Georgia Tech all over their Blue Field in the Humanitarian Bowl

Originally posted by BullittHence the issue with the BCS...when you have to rely on these games, or the Notre Dame-Syracuse game, to determine who plays for the national championship, there's a problem.

There is generally a simple solution for that; win all of your games and let the chips fall where they may.

Of course, ask Tulane and Marshall about that.

The history of taxation shows that taxes which are inherently excessive are not paid. The high rates inevitably put pressure upon the taxpayer to withdraw his capital from productive business.- Andrew Mellon

Originally posted by redsoxnationWhoever thought that Boise State/Hawaii and Army/Navy could have such impact on the National Title race?

Hence the issue with the BCS...when you have to rely on these games, or the Notre Dame-Syracuse game, to determine who plays for the national championship, there's a problem.

Even if you were to have a 4 team playoff at the end of the season, these lesser games would still have an impact, as strength of schedule would have to be an element in deciding who is #4 and who would be left out at #5.

Why Pro Wrestling proves the INS cannot keep terrorists out of the United States: If a felon like Nathan Jones is allowed into the United States with no special skills (unless being totally inept in the ring counts, but I think there are enough totally inept people in the US to keep that skill from being unique or special), then how the hell can they justify keeping anyone else out?

Originally posted by redsoxnationEven if you were to have a 4 team playoff at the end of the season, these lesser games would still have an impact, as strength of schedule would have to be an element in deciding who is #4 and who would be left out at #5.

And a 16 or 24 team playoff as well. Some people have put the 24 team playoff idea out on the table and you can imagine what people would do when they realized that Southern Miss and North Texas as conference champs would knock Maryland and Oklahoma State out of the tournament...

The history of taxation shows that taxes which are inherently excessive are not paid. The high rates inevitably put pressure upon the taxpayer to withdraw his capital from productive business.- Andrew Mellon

Originally posted by redsoxnationEven if you were to have a 4 team playoff at the end of the season, these lesser games would still have an impact, as strength of schedule would have to be an element in deciding who is #4 and who would be left out at #5.

And a 16 or 24 team playoff as well. Some people have put the 24 team playoff idea out on the table and you can imagine what people would do when they realized that Southern Miss and North Texas as conference champs would knock Maryland and Oklahoma State out of the tournament...

Well that's true, no matter how many teams are in a tournament the first person who didn't make it will argue. If there was a 116 team tournament then 117 would argue why they aren't 116. But the more teams there are the less the argument would be. If there was a four team playoff with the top 4 teams it would be Oklahoma, USC, LSU, and Michigan. Well Ohio State, Tennessee, Texas, Georgia, FSU, and Miami would all have a legitimate beef because they probably could beat those teams, and had really good seasons. But if there is a 24 team tournament and someone like Maryland or Minnesota got left out then I wouldn't have much sympathy for them because they weren't nearly as good.

It's like the Final Four tournament. When the brackets are selected there are bubble teams and they might argue they deserve in, but at the end of the season when the tournament is over you don't hear anybody saying well so and so wouldn't have won if (insert 66th team here) was in the tournament. But in a four game tournament you could argue that let's say Michigan, wouldn't have won if Texas was in it, or something like that.

That's the point. Ultimately, who cares if Maryland thinks they should be in the top 24. The team that would have got the 66th slot in the basketball tournament may be upset that they didn't get in, but realisticly they weren't going to win the whole thing. Same thing here. Maybe Maryland should beat out North Texas, but they weren't going to win the championship. The team that might have been justified getting a playoff spot getting left out isn't nearly as big a deal as a team that could reasonably be national champion not getting a shot because of some computer formula. It's so rare now in sports that the team that goes into the playoffs as the favourite wins the championship that there is no way to accept this formula as legitimate.

Yeah I had hopes Clemson was still Clemson and would lose a couple starting with this weekend. Now I'm just hoping they go undefeated so my team looks good for almost taking them out. Bleh. Ohio State is horrid on offense.